Paris Hilton never wore a ‘Stop Being Poor’ top

We've all seen the photo.

Paris Hilton, circa 2005, buzzing around a club to mark the launch of her sister's new clothing line, sporting a tank top baring the words 'Stop Being Poor.' At this stage the image has been sufficiently meme-ified, scored into the minds of an entire generation as yet another example of how truly out of touch celebrities can be. It formed opinions, it generated mild discussion. Subconsciously it shifted Paris Hilton to the part of my mind reserved for shallow celebrities who are vapid and should never be taken seriously anyway. Of course she'd wear something like that. She's Paris Hilton. However, as it turns out the image isn't real at all. Paris never wore the 'Stop Being Poor' top. The image was photoshopped years ago and circulated widely across the web, only contributing to the long heralded narrative that the reality star and DJ was nothing but a dumb blonde who didn't deserve her success - and that photo proved it. Knowledge that the image was fake has existed for years, but it wasn't until Paris addressed the photo this week that the message finally sunk in - she wasn't dragging the non-rich at all, she was dragging people for being desperate. And there's a big difference.